Transmetrics and the EIC Accelerator: AI Planning for Hauliers

Logistics companies move a lot of empty equipment: trailers, containers and swap bodies repositioned to where the next load might be. Transmetrics, a Sofia company launched in 2013, sells software that forecasts freight volumes and recommends where to send those assets, aimed at mid-sized carriers that cannot build such systems themselves.

The EU has backed it repeatedly. Under the EIC's pilot programme it received €1,669,806 for a project that ran from March 2020 to April 2022. In June 2022 it was selected again in the EIC Accelerator, and in February 2023 the EIC Fund and Impetus Capital led a €2.5 million convertible round. No Horizon Europe grant for the 2022 award appears on CORDIS, and since 2023 the company's revenue has slipped and its team has shrunk, according to Bulgarian register data.

Where Transmetrics Stands Today

Transmetrics names large logistics groups as customers. Its June 2022 announcement listed Kuehne + Nagel, DB Schenker, DPDgroup and Gebrüder Weiss, and it has published implementations with the Dutch carrier Jan de Rijk and the container line Transmar. It is a member of the EIC Scaling Club, whose interview with chief executive Asparuh Koev says the company was seeking to raise €5 million. No round since 2023 has been announced.

Register data summarised by finansi.bg show average staff rising from 21 in 2019 to 39 in 2023 and falling to 32 in 2024, when total revenue fell 1.9%, EBITDA fell 15.7% and total assets fell 9.3%. The absolute revenue and profit figures are filed but not freely displayed.

The Technology: Forecasts for the Middle of the Market

The EIC pilot project set out the problem: "Logistics assets like shipping containers are expensive to store and move, yet 1 in 3 are moved empty, costing €18B/yr." Its final report says the grant paid for an "end-to-end external-data-based AI predictive optimization solution", including forecasting, cost and maintenance scheduling modules, data standardisation tools and ISO 27001 certification. It argues that "only the largest logistics companies like DHL have built in-house predictive analytics systems".

What the EIC Award Promised, and What the Record Shows

The March 2022 award was for "the AI platform that optimizes logistics planning and asset management", with blended finance. Transmetrics said in June 2022 it would use the money for software development, collaborations and international expansion, without giving an amount. CORDIS lists no Horizon Europe grant agreement for it, so there is no public report of the work. The equity side is visible: the EIC Fund co-led the 2023 round, with EIC Fund board member Hermann Hauser saying the money would help Transmetrics "expand its customer base". Transmetrics is also a partner in DECARBOMILE, a Horizon Europe last-mile project, with €433,257 of EU funding.

1. Predictive planning productDeliveredBuilt under the 2020 grant.
2. Report on the 2022 awardNoneNo CORDIS project.
3. Follow-on investmentDelivered€2.5M round, 2023.
4. Growth after the investmentNot shownRevenue and staff down in 2024.

What Has Happened Since the Award

The Money

By its own count Transmetrics had raised "nearly €7.5 million in equity and grants" by early 2023, of which at least €2.1 million came from the two EU grants on CORDIS. The EIC Fund's share of the 2023 round was not disclosed. The company's 2024 accounts are filed with the Bulgarian commercial register; the public summaries show the direction of revenue and profit but not the amounts.

Why Europe Should Care

The EIC pilot project put the cost of moving containers empty at €18 billion a year, and Transmetrics sells software to reduce it. The EU has funded Transmetrics through a grant, an equity investment and a research consortium. The record since 2023 shows a company holding on, not scaling.

The Verdict

Transmetrics has not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on company statements, Bulgarian register data and EU project data, linked throughout.